All systems are in place for the “Mother of All Carnivals,” says Tourism and Culture Minister Randall Mitchell as T&T expects a bumper season with the influx of visitors from around the world, local revellers and those from the different diaspora taking part in the Reign of the Merry Monarch after two years.
Mitchell told the Sunday Business Guardian that several “special guests” are also expected to arrive in T&T.
On whether the worrying crime rate can put a damper on the revelry Mitchell assured plans are already implemented to tackle criminal activity while ensuring visitor safety.
“At the Joint Select Committee on National Security, on which I have membership, senior officers of the TTPS (DCP Curt Simon) have given strong assurances that plans are in place for a safe and secure Carnival.
“They have indicated that for the past month, they have been working with all stakeholders, which I know to be true, including the National Carnival Commission, Carnival stakeholders and Tourism Trinidad Ltd, to ensure the safety and security of citizens and visitors alike,” Mitchell explained.
He added there were no challenges in putting plans seamlessly in place.
While the total number of visitors have not yet been collated, these are estimated in the thousands as the Tourism Minister said airlines have been reporting maximum seat capacity for the Carnival season.
“As many visitors that can get here using the air service connectivity presently available,” he added when asked about expected visitor numbers.
However, he noted there have been operational challenges experienced by carriers post-COVID to return to full service.
Mitchell explained during the pandemic, national lockdowns and the unprecedented decline in passenger demand led to airlines cancelling services, furloughing or letting go staff, and cancelling leases of aircraft or putting them in storage to contain costs.
As a consequence of these challenges, Mitchell said, airlines experienced serious constraints in equipment and human resources and have been “carefully and cautiously” returning service to pre-pandemic levels.
However, this is not expected to negatively affect visitor arrivals as Caribbean Airlines, for instance, has added capacity and is presently seeking to further increase intake for the Carnival week.
“And we expect other airlines to do similarly. We are, though, still without WestJet (Toronto),Jet Blue (Florida), Delta (New Jersey),” Mitchell said.
While it may be too late to book flights and accommodations for Carnival 2023, Royal Caribbean’s Rhapsody of the Seas is providing a solution.
Carnival lovers can sail from Barbados to Trinidad from February 16 to 22 and stay on board while experiencing Carnival on land.
According to Mitchell, approximately 2,000 visitors are expected to arrive in T&T via the Rhapsody of the Seas.
“The usual cruise calls are not counted, but we have received some and we’ve taken them to the Carnival Village at the Queen’s Park Savannah and immersed them into our culture,” Mitchell said.
Noting that accommodation provided by Royal Caribbean’s Rhapsody of the Seas is novel for Trinidad Carnival, the Tourism Minister said this country usually receives calls from a number of private mega yachts.
“But this is the first if memory serves, to call specifically for the Carnival period and stay in port for five days. We have been working with the cruise charterer for over a year in putting systems in place for the ship’s arrival,” he said.
This approach, Mitchell reiterated, offers a different mode of transport to T&T as well as an accommodation solution during the festival.
He added there are also activities carded on the ship as it sails to and from its home port.
Also, Mitchell said passengers have all already booked costumes for both J’ouvert and Carnival Monday and Tuesday and pre-booked on a number of fêtes, pleasure cruises, and other activities they have been planned with Tourism Trinidad and other parties during their stay in Trinidad.
“This cruise is something we have been very excited about and one we hope to continue in many years to come,” he added.
Regarding occupancy rate thus far, Mitchell said he has spoken to several accommodation providers: large branded hotels, medium to small hotels and guesthouses, and bed and breakfast-type outfits which have all indicated full occupancy.
This is welcomed news since occupancy levels have averaged around 65 per cent at the end of December 2022, Mitchell said adding that T&T continues to work on getting back to pre-pandemic levels going forward.
He further explained that traditionally, during the Carnival season, especially in the week leading up to Carnival Monday and Tuesday, there is a dearth of available rooms where demand completely outpaces supply.
This then drives-up room prices which may cause the festival to be out of financial reach for many potential visitors.
However, this is not a deterrent.
“In response, we are accelerating our push to encourage investment into the tourism sector, in particular, our accommodation room stock; encouraging our promoters to engage in promoting packages earlier in the season so that visitors may experience a taste of Carnival activities without the high cost; and encouraging more alternative type accommodation, such as the Carnival cruise and Air BNB-type accommodations,” Mitchell added.
While the Tourism Minister did not have reports from Tobago’s accommodation sector for the season, he commended Beverly Ramsey-Moore and her Pan Trinbago team for hosting the National Panorama Finals Medium Bands in Tobago this weekend.
This, Mitchell said, from all indications, will provide a significant stimulus to the island through domestic tourism.
Expected earnings from Carnival 2023
According to the Tourism Minister average visitor spend per person can “safely be estimated to be conservatively around” US$2000.
He also gave some figures of what the numbers were previously.
“In past years we’ve conservatively averaged around $350 million injected into the economy by way of visitor spend for the Carnival period which is between 10 to 19 days prior to Ash Wednesday,” Mitchell explained.
He said apart from visitor spend, the festival stimulates “an estimated $1 billion of economic activity, all things considered.”
This involves the spend by the NCC, the private sector sponsorship, the private sector fêtes/events, consumer spend/consumption, masquerade etc.
Going forward in examining the data, Mitchell said his Ministry will pursue, with the request for assistance from the universities and the Central Statistical Office (CSO), an updated study on the economic value, potential and opportunities for future preparations and planning.
The CSO noted that for the 2020 Carnival 37,861 visitors came to T&T, estimating they spent a total of $458.12 million.
According to the CSO visitor arrivals for the Carnival period consist of the nineteen days before the Carnival celebration including Carnival Monday and Tuesday.
In looking at the comparison between Carnival 2017 and 2018 the CSO noted that data on visitor arrivals were monitored from January 26 to February 13, 2018.
The total visitor arrivals to T&T were 33,873 people, with Trinidad recording 31,877 and Tobago 1,996 for the period.
When compared to Carnival for 2017 (10th to 28th February), data showed a 3,575 or 9.5 per cent decrease in visitor arrivals to T&T.
The CSO also administered the Survey of Departing Visitors (SODV) for the 10 days after Carnival Tuesday (14 to 23 February, 2018) to determine the expenditure patterns of visitors for Carnival in both T&T.
Data was collected on 2,532 people of which 1,573 specifically stated that Carnival was their main reason for visiting the islands.
An average of $10, 973 was spent per visitor, with entertainment and accommodation being the highest expenditure.
The overall average expenditure of all visitors for that period was $9,416 per visitor.
The CSO also explained that when the overall average visitor expenditure ($9,416) is factored into the total Carnival visitor arrivals (33,873 people), the estimated visitor expenditure for the Carnival period for T&T was $ 318,948,168.
The CSO said the figure was only representative of visitor expenditure and not necessarily total contribution of Carnival to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Year Total Arrivals Trinidad Tobago
2014 36897 34227 2670
2015 38624 35585 3039
2016 35483 33471 2012
2017 37448 35269 2179
2018 33873 31877 1996
2019 35560 33210 2350
2020 37861 35823 2038
Source: Ministry of National Security, Immigration Division
